Akisane steeled himself against the sword's price to focus on Akitomo. However, ignoring the blackened bodies shrinking and absorbing into Darksun proved difficult. The screams for help echoed as they died.
Darksun pulsed with energy with the black tip in the stone, Grounding the energy. We sip when we should gulp.
The sword wouldn’t lie to him about this. At least not now. The river of power became a deluge.
The square shook, and dozens of knights fled with the stampede of the Dunaguardians, seeking to escape the catastrophe. A few cries came from the stands of those broken in the rush.
Shank led his companions to the arena, and they glanced wearily at the blackening corpses whose vapor coursed into Darksun.
William approached as well, and he dragged one foot. His other side must have fought every step. “Let it absorb me. You wouldn’t merely gain my strength but the creature who possesses me.” The one side of his face twitched violently.
The idea wasn’t worth entertaining. “I can’t.”
“Imagine what could have been if you two had listened to a single lesson,” Duke Akitomo said. “Look at your poor mother. She’s the only one who hasn’t fled because she’s worried about you. When she sees me kill you, I’ll have to put her out of her misery.”
William spoke before Akisane could. “You won’t lay a hand on her.” Then he turned and lowered his voice. “Do it now. Take what I can offer.”
Winds of power circled the Duke like a tornado. Magical items glowed all about him. “What is stone but to be reduced to sand? Thailoc’s not the only one who can destroy. The Devils of the Desert rise.”
Among the sand-swirling black bones, two massive creatures grew to a height that wouldn’t allow them into a house if they were to try. They stood sentinel in robes of rock that tore from the arena. A cold breeze sucked toward them in gusts.
Masahide tried to join the fight, but as he neared, he fell to one knee with blood streaming down his arm and matting this shirt to his chest.
“Drain me,” William persisted.
Akisane knew his brother was correct. Even Darksun didn’t want the fight. Not yet. The blade would usually pull toward the target. “No. Everything seems to push me towards worse and worse ends. I will win or die by my own choices.”
“It’s not just about you. And you’d be doing me a favor. I can’t live my life with this thing always attached to me.”
The blacked corpses littering the arena no longer held energy. Their stares came from empty sockets. The skin stretched as if it were any more taut would rip. What’s one more death on my conscience? The idea was insane. Could he live with himself?
“Think of what happens if you die,” William said. “If you spare me and lose, that demon will ravage the world. Even if it’s imprisoned again, it won’t be until everything is razed to the ground.”
Two blades emerged from the tall creatures. The steel was curved like crescent moons, reflecting the red glow of the ashen sun. The creatures moved in unison, raising their swords high as if trying to strike a giant.
“I’m going to let them cut me down,” William said and stepped before the towering figures, who bent slightly to acknowledge him and brought the crescents back.
Why didn’t Akisane stop William? He could have reached out and grabbed him and yanked him back.
William would die within moments.
Not again.
William’s half wilted. The Niandezalo thrashed in the other half.
Darksun shone like a black sun. You made the right choice. Now, taste a fraction of my true potential.
The crescent swords sliced through the husk of Akisane’s brother as if he were a scarecrow or mummy. All life and soul had fled—not fled, absorbed, desecrated. The creatures looked down in confusion, and then eyeless stares locked onto Akisane.
Whirlwinds closed from behind. The towering figures struck.
Akisane’s first thought was to throw himself out of the way, but he lifted the sword, and a force knocked everything back.
The small creatures flew back, and some of the remaining Arc Order Knights engaged them.
Darksun sparked against incoming crescent blades. Shock ran through the handle. These are blades forged in the Early Fires.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The cloaks of stone shifted back at Akisane’s reply, a series of spinning cuts he’d learned in training against multiple opponents.
The roiling sky allowed passing shadows over the battle. He shadowwalked and stuck from the sides. The stone cloaks parted and stuck something beneath. The creatures had an immaterial core.
They screeched at the upper bounds of hearing. First, a crumble of arms and then a head fell to the ground as one dropped like a tree.
Akisane felt nothing under his feet. He saw a blade coming for him but stuck out his hand and let out a blast.
The creature reeled.
My telekinesis has never been this strong. Akisane flattened the creature with the subsequent use. Cracks spiderwebbed the whole arena.
The constant shaking made the square fall apart at the edges. The footing felt uneven.
A star fell from the ash. Whitebeard landed lightly. Blood streamed from his nostrils. Bruises mottled his face. His posture slumped, and he gestured to the Arc and his companions. “Behind my shield.” He stood just before Kichi and Masahide, and vines grew to encircle them. “This fight is between Akisane and Akitomo.
After only a few moments, Kichi stirred and opened her eyes. Masahide climbed to his knees and said, “I must fight.”
Whitebeard put a hand on his shoulder. “No. The burden of seeing what’s to come means I have to try and push people in the right direction. And right now, the push becomes a shove. I can’t let you do a thing.”
The Duke slammed the cross-polearm into the stone, which gave way like clay. He left it there and raised his hands. “I don’t have time for this.”
Akisane knew what would come. He saw the desert city’s walls reduced to rubble. The building blew away as if in a hurricane. He would face Annihilation.
The cape around the Duke’s shoulders glowed orange and fluttered. Perhaps it magnified his strength, for he always wore it into battle. Stone chips levitated above the arena.
The hair at the nape of Akisane’s neck rose as well.
Rents in the air around the Duke tore outward and opened. The world went white.
Akisane held Darksun before him and parted a sea of liquid heat. The sound of the barrage was like an avalanche.
Darksun pulled. You’re not dead. Fight.
He looked down and realized he was standing on lava. The heat had turned the ground into a lake. I could fire walk.
The look on the Duke’s face could only be described as horror when he emerged. The magic storm vanished.
Almost losing his head, the Duke ducked and grabbed the polearm from the ground.
Sword and polearm danced back and forth. Multihued sparks erupted like a fireworks display.
Akisane’s strikes whistled in the air with the added force of the demon sword. It seemed it could cut through a mountain, but the polearm blocked it every time.
As if from a great distance, Whitebeard said. “My shield shattered. Run. Get out of here.”
The tip of the polearm was like a short sword, and it stuck into Akisane’s shoulder. Pain burst from the wound, but even that seemed far away.
At the same time, the Duke’s intestines fell from his stomach. “No,” he said, trying to scoop up his innards.
Akisane wanted to raise his father’s head and show him the damage he’d caused. Look what you’ve done, he wanted to say. Instead, he severed the Duke’s head from his shoulders in a clean strike. He took the Dagger of Bones, the Cape of the Blasphemer, and the Crown of the Dried Seas from the corpse.
Masahide stood with the support of the soloknight. He still had fresh blood running down his sleeve. Kichi limped beside them.
Whitebeard approached with a gaze that said he looked somewhere far beyond. “Thailoc is here. It’s time to go.”
From above, the air snaked and looped around them in a wide circle. Shinlemune, I will take you away.
Something else caught Akisane’s attention. A white wolf, the size of a small house, leaped from a crumbling tower and landed in the square. It sniffed Masahide, who put a bloodied hand on the white fur. It lowered itself so that its back was only eight feet or so.
Shinlemune, there’s no time. The air snake swam closer and paused right beside him. He hesitantly touched the scales.
Whitebeard drew the sword from his back and handed it to Kichi. “When the time comes, you’ll know what to do with it. No doubt you’ve already seen glimpses.”
The girl stood there with a blade that dwarfed her.
The air snaked hissed in Akisane’s mind. I didn’t come all this way to watch you die. There are things to be done.
Just what he needed—more voices in his head. He’d never have a quiet moment again if he didn’t get rid of the air snake and the sword. But they were useful right now. He climbed on the back of the serpent and held onto the long mane. It undulated.
Masahide climbed on the back of the wolf. “Whitebeard, Kichi, come on.”
The two climbed onto the wolf’s back. “Take me to the high bridge,” Whitebeard said.
Akisane watched the ground flee as the serpent took to the air. I want to see what I’m dealing with.
From a distance, Shinlemune.
The castle fell inward. A ponderous slab of mountain crashed into the arena, creating a rent that spewed lava. And there Thailoc rose, a horror of sinewy fire. He wielded a shield of semi-transparent red on one forearm, like a giant ruby. When stone and boulders smashed into him, he didn’t slow as if nothing could touch him.
Henry (Akisane)
Level: 26
Vertical Rings: 21
Focus: Telekinesis
Secondary focus: Shadow walker, fire walker, Tandem Fire Decay
Weapons: Darksun Sword - 85% corrupt, decay+12